Capstone/Dissertation Title

Author

Term

2014

Capstone

Thesis

Degree Name

MALED

Abstract

This capstone addresses the question: How can explicitly teaching active, during-reading thinking strategies to struggling middle school readers impact their reading of informational text? The motivation behind this research was one teacher's career-long quest to find effective during-reading strategies to improve the way struggling middle school students read informational text. This capstone details who struggling readers are and offers reasons why they may be struggling. It explores the genre of informational text and how to use it for teaching struggling middle school readers. The author details how she implemented three during-reading strategies (making connections, self-monitoring, and questioning) into her seventh-grade intervention reading classroom and the effects of doing so on her students' reading of informational text. She describes her classroom action research, along with the limitations and benefits that came from the experience.